Troy Renck of the Denver Posttalked to Giambi about why he decided against retiring as a player to begin a coaching career and the former MVP said “the timing wasn’t right” and first-year manager Walt Weiss having to work on a one-year contract played a part:

I really thought about it and if Walt had gotten more than a year on his contract maybe it would have been different. But I felt that he needed to get a foothold and have total focus and commitment from the guys. He really deserves it. If the team doesn’t start out the way they want, and I am in the background looming, it could be a PR nightmare. I am not that kind of human being.

That’s interesting, especially since Giambi has made it clear that he definitely wants to coach at some point and, at age 41, he’s nearing the end of the line as a player even if it sounds like he’ll be able to find a part-time/bench gig for 2013.

In giving Weiss a one-year deal the Rockies insisted that it was a non-story and didn’t represent a lack of commitment to someone with no professional coaching or managing experience, but it’s hard not to connect those dots and now the lack of a multi-year deal has had other ramifications.

All of which made me wonder about this scenario: What if Weiss does poorly in his first year and the Rockies decide to go in another direction after the season. Would they turn to Giambi, who interviewed for the manager job before Weiss was hired? And if so, would Giambi accept the job or would his aforementioned respect for Weiss keep him from doing so?

With Odorizzi, the Twins finally have the front-end starter they’ve been seeking all winter. It’s a bargain deal as well, as the 27-year-old righty is under contract through 2019 and didn’t require the club to part with any of their top-shelf prospects in the trade. Odorizzi will be looking to stage a comeback in 2018 after a dismal performance with the Rays last year, during which he eked out a career-worst 4.14 ERA, 3.8 BB/9 and 8.0 SO/9 through 143 1/3 innings.

Palacios, 21, ranked no. 27 in the Twins’ system last season. He split his year between Single-A Cedar Rapids and High-A Fort Myers, raking a combined .296/.333/.454 with 13 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 539 plate appearances. He’s expected to continue developing at shortstop, though he’s also seen limited time at second and third base during his four-year career in the minors.